2021 - Personal Retrospective

 Personal wins:

• Finished my Executive MBA - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6831703964690522112/ 
• Moved into a new role at a new company
•  Launched my online course – Product Management and Strategy - https://www.udemy.com/course/product-management-and-strategy/learn/lecture/28414890?kw=product+management+and+strate&src=sac#overview

 

Books read:

• The Millionaire Fastlane - https://www.amazon.com/Millionaire-Fastlane-Crack-Wealth-Lifetime/dp/0984358137
• Social Selling Mastery - https://www.amazon.com/Social-Selling-Mastery-Scaling-Marketing/dp/B06XWGKDF3
• The Lean Startup - https://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Eric-Ries-audiobook/dp/B005MM7HY8
• Getting to Yes - https://www.amazon.com/Getting-to-Yes-audiobook/dp/B004YZ4NCI

 

What can be done better:

• Sleep – Average sleep time is around 6 hrs. Take it up to 8 hrs.
• Screen time – Reduce from 8 hrs average to around 6 hrs.
• Exercise – At least 30 mins daily.

Few personal wins from 2020

 Created Executive ViewPoint - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAdSMvYTkbKTWHCcsJBf5kw

Certifications/Courses:

• Continued EMBA
• AWS Practitioner

 

Published:

• What is the impact of Coronavirus on Alternative Energy firms? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dws9uplGuF0&t=15s
• 5 Tips for Business Analysts and Product Managers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpAblkgg5c0&t=17s
• What is the impact of Coronavirus on the Retail industry? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8d-wclqk9E&t=133s
• What is the impact of Coronavirus on Banking industry? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vDGeBupd_s&t=33s

 

Books Read:

• What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful - by Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter - https://www.amazon.com/What-Got-Here-Wont-There/dp/1401301304/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29FYNADVGKMSV&dchild=1&keywords=what+got+you+here+wont+get+you+there&qid=1609680359&sprefix=what+got%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1
  
• Do Log (Hindi) by Gulzar - https://www.amazon.com/Do-Log-Hindi-Gulzar-ebook/dp/B077N3V5PN/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=do+log+gulzar&qid=1609680454&sr=8 
• The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade - by Pietra Rivoli - https://www.amazon.com/Travels-T-Shirt-Global-Economy-Characters/dp/1118950143/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FC4NKLLHV99&dchild=1&keywords=travels+of+a+t-shirt+in+the+global+economy&qid=1609680520&sprefix=travels+of+a%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-1 
• The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement - by Eliyahu M. Goldratt - https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+goal&qid=1609680579&sr=8-1 
• You Know You're 40 When... by Ann Hodgman, Patricia Marx  - https://www.amazon.com/You-Know-Youre-40-When/dp/0767917391/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=you+know+you%27re+40+when&qid=1609680656&sr=8-1 
• Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy by Joan Magretta - https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Michael-Porter-Essential-Competition/dp/1422160599/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LSESEHHVNYET&dchild=1&keywords=understanding+michael+porter&qid=1609680703&sprefix=understanding+mic%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-1 
• Translate, Motivate, Activate: A Leader's Guide to Activating Change by Larry Solomon - https://www.amazon.com/Translate-Motivate-Activate-Leaders-Activating/dp/1612543626/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1609680753&sr=8-1

Perfect Data Quality?

Can a Data Manager ever raise a hand in front of his CTO or DGO and say he has achieved perfect data quality? The answer unfortunately is a big ‘NO’.

Why? Because there is nothing like perfect data; it’s a mirage which, if you start chasing, will get you stranded in the middle of a desert. So, is it worth trying and remediating bad data? Yes of course, but we have to take a selective approach. The Pareto principle, the 80-20 rule, will come to the rescue here. Identify 20% of the issues that fix 80% of the data. Easier said than done but at-least it is something achievable and can be aspired for.

Even more important is to realize that fixing the process is far more important than fixing the data. I am not trying to imply that data remediation is not important. It is and needs to be done. But it should be more of a correction or fix in case of exceptions or a one-time effort when you laying down the foundations at the onset of your Data Quality program.

Data Management, Governance And Stewardship - II

Continuing the discussion from the last post, let’s understand the relationship between Data management, governance and stewardship.

You have just built a world class analytics platform that will cater to the data needs of your analysts and business managers so that they can slice and dice it and bring you insights that will improve operational efficiency and give you a cutting edge over your competitors. But what happens when after spending millions of dollars your business managers are not confident about the data they are using? Can your organization rely on the decisions they make? How do you ensure that the system maintains the same level of quality with which you built the system and it is not deteriorating over time? How do you ensure that your data and its handling is compliant and in agreement with various internal and external regulations?

If you are asking these questions you are probably questioning the quality of your data or information. Some people argue that data and information are two separate entities with data representing the ‘numbers’ and information providing the ‘context around those numbers’. Since both are incomplete without each other, for the purpose of this blog we will treat them as the same.

Employee - Your Best Advertisement

The employee who works with the clients in one of the remote locations or answers customer queries over the phone or interacts with your customers behind the sales counter affects your business much more than any number of advertising and PR dollars you may spend on building your brand/image. So invest some part of that huge marketing/PR budget in training, nurturing that employee and keeping them happy so that they genuinely deliver that message across which you want your customer to get or feel.

A smiling employee proudly telling your customer – “We at our company believe in doing things the right way” - sends a much stronger, effective message that any billboard or TV ads can ever do. And always remember - it's a little difficult to fake the smile to the customer.

The Age Of Artists Sans Middlemen

The age of the privileged middlemen is over. All along the artist has been at the mercy of that privileged middleman to get their work to the audience. Be it be a publisher, an art gallery or a music records company – for years they have controlled who and what reaches the market. But the times have changed and so has the role of the middleman – from the controller to the facilitator.

The artist is the privileged one now – they can opt for a facilitator but it’s not mandatory. They just need their art to be good enough to reach the market. They can paint, create music or have their own comic strip – and even if they choose to go with the middlemen they can do it at their own terms.

Blowing Your Own Trumpet!!

Being good at your work counts but being able to showcase that work is equally important too. This is especially true when your job is your art or vice-versa – your art is your job.

Consider an artist who creates mind-blowing work in a dungeon but never displays it to anyone. If that art is also his livelihood he will never sell anything and soon run out of money and possibly cease to exist and so will his art.

Compare this to a scenario where a person creates good work (not low quality) and knows how to sell it. The good worker may get only half of what a mind-blowing artist would get (if he sold) but he will live to create more art, learn and improve upon it.

Not trying to undermine the importance of great work, but showcasing your work is part of the Genius. You may create the sharpest knives in the world but if you are not able to convince somebody to use them they will eventually rust and become useless.

The Genius not only does great work but takes pride in showcasing it equally well.

Inspiration From A Cardboard Arcade

There are only a few blogs that I truly read and follow like this and this. Mainly because instances of useful, interesting and really inspirational stuff on the internet are very few and far between like needles in a haystack; rest all is just clutter. Sometimes when you feel exasperated after of hours of surfing, sifting through the noise to find something worthwhile; you stumble upon something that is both heartwarming and inspirational.

This is the story of 9 year old Caine Monroy who created his own Game Arcade using cardboards in his father’s shop. I am not sure what made me feel good – the creative genius of the kid, his enterprise or the knowledge of the fact that he has managed to collect  $205997.2, when last checked, in donations for his effort. When even grown-ups feel reluctant to go ahead and start their own gig and follow their dreams, here’s a small kid who believed in his idea, persevered and worked hard.

Here’s to the kid in all of us – Let’s follow our dreams as they sure come true!!

Data Governance, Stewardship and Management

Data governance, stewardship and management are more often than not mentioned in the same breath but are all three the same? If not, what is the difference between the three? How to determine what function belongs to which area?

All three are closely related often with blurring boundaries and sometimes have overlapping functions and at the very least need to work closely with each other to reach their end goals. But still there is a need to understand the basic difference between the three to be able to perform whatever role you have, more effectively. Based on my understanding I will layout what each means and how they are related to each other at a very high level.

Data Management, I believe, encompasses the broadest scope of the three - governance and stewardship being the sub-functions. It encompasses everything related to the data that an organization has – right from definition, delivery, quality to security and access. As per DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK):

"Data management is the development, execution and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that control, protect, deliver and enhance the value of data and information assets.”

Options and Excuses

Does having more options mean more excuses and more failures?

Does having the comfort of knowing that even if you fail you have something else to fall back on, prevent you from giving a chance that you have your all?

Does having multiple options and the luxury of choosing what you like take away the killer instinct?

Is it the options or the attitude that determine whether you look for excuses for your failures or look to learn from it?

I know most of you would instantaneously say in unison it’s the attitude. But I am interested in understanding the role of availability of options in shaping a person’s behavior and attitude.

A professional who knows he is and deserves much better than what he is getting at his current job doesn’t do anything about it and continues at the same job, cribbing about it every other day because he has the option of staying back in an environment which he is not happy with but has known for years and hence gives him a sense of security.